U.S. stocks were in the green on Friday, with the three main indexes hitting record intraday highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.67% to 27,966, the S&P 500 Index increased 0.61% to 3,115 and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.61% to 8,531.
Non-index stocks have also posted gains and losses recently. Shares of J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP, Financial) gained more than 7% on Friday after announcing third-quarter results. The company posted a loss of 30 cents per share, beating estimatesby 24 cents. Revenue of $2.5 billion topped expectations by $70 million.
“The past quarter was an exciting and energizing time at JCPenney as we made significant progress on our efforts to return JCPenney to sustainable, profitable growth,” said CEO Jill Soltau.
The cost of goods sold for the quarter was $1.54 billion, or 64.6 % of sales, compared to $1.81 billion, or 68.1 % of sales, in the prior-year quarter. Selling, general and administrative expenses were $854 million, or 35.8 % of net sales, compared to $883 million, or 33.3 % of net sales, a year ago.
Further, cash and cash equivalents at the end of the quarter was $157 million. The free cash flow was $-518 million for the first nine months the year, a decrease of $18 million from the comparable quarter of 2018.
Looking ahead to full fiscal 2019, the company expects adjusted Ebitda to exceed $475 million.
During the quarter ended Sept. 30, Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) reduced his holding by 51% to 451,700 shares. Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) increased his position by 142% to 122,776 shares. Philippe Laffont establishe a 1,869,634-share stake and Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio)' Renaissance Technologies bought 130,459 shares.
Gainers
- Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT, Financial) +9%
- Macy's Inc. (M, Financial) +4%
- Danaher Corp. (DHR, Financial) +4.4%
- Gap Inc. (GPS, Financial) +3.7%
- Helmerich and Payne Inc. (HP, Financial) +3.5%
Losers
- CenterPoint Energy Inc. (CNP, Financial) -5%
- Whirlpool Corp. (WHR, Financial) -4.2%
- Alliance Data Systems Corp. (ADS, Financial) -2.6%
- HollyFrontier Corp. (HFC, Financial) -2.6%
- Noble Energy Inc. (NBL, Financial) -2.4%
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded in the green.The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.14%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.65%, Germany's Dax inched up 0.47% and Spain's IBEX 35 advanced 0.96%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.70%, India’s BSE Sensex swelled 0.17%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.01% and China's Shanghai Composite increased 0.64%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
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